Sunday, July 31, 2011

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

GENERAL
●Blue Book – irelands-blue-book.ie; register of high end country inns; not cheap; more like Relais & Chateaux.

COUNTY CAVANCavanHotels
●Radisson Blu Farnham Estate – Farnham Estate; 011-353-049-437-7700 or 800-333-3333; farnhamestate.ie; 300 year-old structure with modern wing; spa; 150 rooms; any of 8 rooms in original house are best.

COUNTY CLAREBallyvaughanBars & Nightclubs
●O’Lochlainn – Ballyvaugh Road; 011-353-065-707-7006; Steven Speilberg described this as one of best pubs he has been in; proprietor is Margaret, who opens at 8 every night unless gets her act together sooner or feels like dallying bit; essentially 1 quiet room (can hear grandfather clock ticking) crammed with antiques, old pictures, older maps, and bric-a-brac; stocks over 400 whiskeys from around world, but serves only 50 or so (rest, crowding shelves behind bar, are for show; crushed ice produced by hand crank and deafening rattle machine.Hotels
●Gregans Castle Hotel – Corkscrew Hill; 011-353-065-707-7005; gregans.ie; sweeping mountain views.

COUNTY TIPPERARYCahirSights & Sites
●Cahir Castle – city center; 011-353-018-366-111; one-time Butler family stronghold; impressive keep, tower, and much of its original defensive structure; 1 of Ireland’s best preserved and largest castles; situated on Suir River rocky island.

LismoreBars & Nightclubs
●Red House Pub – North Main Street; 011-353-058-54248; good place for Guiness.Services
●Sailing – Tony O’Gallagher’s boat, Maeve, can be rented for river trips. Sights & Sites
●Knockmealdown Mountains – head east on N72 for 6½ km (4 mi) to Cappoquin (well-known angling center), then pick up R669 north into Knockmealdown Mountains; route signposted as Vee Gap Road (Vee Gap is summit); superb Tipperary plain, Galtee Mountains, and Slievenamon views; if day clear, should be able to see Rock of Cashel, ancient seat of Munster kings; just before enter Vee Gap, look for 6-foot-high stone mound on road’s left side, which marks Colonel Grubb’s grave, local landowner who liked view so much he arranged to be buried here standing up so he could look out over scene for eternity.
●Lismore Castle – city center; 011-353-015-854-424; lismorecastle.com; Devonshire Dukes’ Irish home since 1753 and among most spectacular castle in Ireland; situated overlooking Blackwater valley and rolling, wooded hills to Knockmealdown Mountains beyond; once occupied by Sir Walter Raleigh.